This page is for reading recommendations. Please add a review when you find a great adventure or survival fiction "read."
NIGHT OF THE HOWLING DOGS by Graham Salisbury - The Hawaiian setting makes this survival tale something different. This is the story of Dylan's Scout troop when they camp near a volcano on the big island of Hawaii. It starts off like a typical realistic fiction tale of competition among boys. One of their chaperons is an expert at ghost stories, and their neighboring campers add to the creepiness by telling the legend of the howling dogs. They are said to appear to give warning of great impending danger. Is it true? Dylan wants to know because he thinks he saw them on the way to the campsite. Read this story to find out what you need to know to survive an earthquake on a volcanic island.
ALABAMA MOON by Watt Key - Wow! Is this story different! It opens with a boy describing how he'd loaded his father's body into a wheelbarrow to take him to the "cemetery" to be buried next to his mother. His mother died years ago, and his father had buried her. Turns out that the father was an anti-government extremist who had raised his son, Moon, to be able to live off the land and fight anyone who ever came near their shack. So Moon is a very unusual boy. Once authorities find out he's living alone in the forest, the local constable goes after him to make him a ward of the state of Alabama. But they haven't ever dealt with a boy with Moon's survival skills. Read this to find out what happens when Moon is left all alone with extreme ideas about other people.
THE DAY OF THE PELICAN by Katherine Paterson - (This review is also on the Realistic Fiction page.) 13-year-old Meli and her family, ethnic Albanians, have to flee from the Serbs during the Kosovo War in 1998-1999. Will they lose her brother Mehmet to the fighting? They leave their middle-class life behind and hide out camping in mountains, eventually ending up in a Refugee Camp. Nothing is more important to them than keeping their extended family together and safe, but the war changes everything. Eventually, Meli and her family immigrate to America and face trials there as well. This book gives you a very good idea of what refugees of war face.
GHOST OF SPIRIT BEAR by Ben Mikaelsen - (This review is also on the Realistic Fiction page.) This book continues the story of Cole after he finishes his year of banishment on the island and returns to Minneapolis. He faces many trials in the form of bullies, a bad school, and adults who just don't care. Will he be able to hold it together? Will his friendship with Peter, his victim, continue? What can a student do to change a hopeless situation? You'll find out when you read this book!
TOUCHING SPIRIT BEAR by Ben Mikaelsen - (This review is also on the Realistic Fiction page.) Cole is a teenager with anger problems. He loses control and almost beats a boy to death. Rather than go to prison, they gave him the opportunity to do an American Indian circle justice experience. He is taken to a remote island, given basic provisions and survival training, and must live on his own by himself for several months. He immediately gets into trouble with a huge bear, but he finds courage and strength to tough it out. It is amazing what he learns over the course of this story. I liked this book very much and found it inspirational, but it has come under criticism from some native Americans as being an inaccurate depiction of their traditions. See Debbie Reese's blog for more criticism information at http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/.
PEAK is a book about a boy named peak. I think you would like this book if you like adventure and high suspense. Peak climbs a skyscraper and his face gets stuck to it. When his trying to rip his face off it, he is caught. Then he is sent to court. But his dad vouches for him, and he is sent to the Himalayas. When he is there his dad tells him that he gets to climb Mt. Everest! He meets Shaolin monks named Zopa and Sun-jo. When he gets to Base Camp he meets a reporter named Holly. When Peak gets to Camp Two he gets really sick and has to come back down. And then after he recovers from the sickness, Sun-jo gets it. As Sun-jo is recovering Holly says that Sun-jo is Zopa’s grandson. And that makes Peak feel really mad and betrayed. Peak also learns that Sun-jo is only a week older than him and when Peak finally gets within ten feet of the summit. He lets Sun-jo go ahead of him and doesn’t go to the summit himself.
PEAK by Roland Smith - Peak is an awesome book about a boy named Peak. In the book, Peak climbs Mt.Everest in his dad’s company. But before that happens, Peak does something else. At the beginning, Peak plans to climb a skyscraper. When he was climbing the skyscraper his plan goes all wrong, and because of the wrong plan he gets caught and goes to the court. When he was about to go to the jail, his dad, Josh a famous mountain climber, save him just in time. He goes to Kathmandu, where Josh lives, and meet a boy named Sun-Jo and meets Zopa, who is Sun-Jo’s grandpa. They get prepared to climb Mt.Everest and also meet Yash and Yogi, who are very interesting and climb Mt.Everest. I think people who like adventures and realistic fictions books should read it because it is amazingly adventurous, it's about surviving on Mt.Everest and it feels like the thing in the story really happened. But I also think that even if you don’t like adventures, survival fiction and realistic fiction, you should read it too! It’s really fun that anybody can enjoy the book.
PEAK by Roland Smith - Peak is a thrilling book about a boy named Peak who goes to climb Mt.Everest with his dad. It starts out with Peak climbing a skyscraper and when he gets caught his dad Josh (who is a famous mountain climber) has to bail him out by taking him back to where he lives in Kathmandu, (which is in Tibet). There he meets a boy named Sun-jo and a sherpa named Zopa (who is secretly Sun-jo’s grand father). Them and two other sherpas named Yogi and Yash all have a very interesting and intriguing climb up Mt.Everest. If you like suspense, adventure, and a little bit of mystery you will love this book. Even if you don’t I think you should try it.( reviewed by Sam in 5B)
This page is for reading recommendations. Please add a review when you find a great adventure or survival fiction "read."
NIGHT OF THE HOWLING DOGS by Graham Salisbury - The Hawaiian setting makes this survival tale something different. This is the story of Dylan's Scout troop when they camp near a volcano on the big island of Hawaii. It starts off like a typical realistic fiction tale of competition among boys. One of their chaperons is an expert at ghost stories, and their neighboring campers add to the creepiness by telling the legend of the howling dogs. They are said to appear to give warning of great impending danger. Is it true? Dylan wants to know because he thinks he saw them on the way to the campsite. Read this story to find out what you need to know to survive an earthquake on a volcanic island.
ALABAMA MOON by Watt Key - Wow! Is this story different! It opens with a boy describing how he'd loaded his father's body into a wheelbarrow to take him to the "cemetery" to be buried next to his mother. His mother died years ago, and his father had buried her. Turns out that the father was an anti-government extremist who had raised his son, Moon, to be able to live off the land and fight anyone who ever came near their shack. So Moon is a very unusual boy. Once authorities find out he's living alone in the forest, the local constable goes after him to make him a ward of the state of Alabama. But they haven't ever dealt with a boy with Moon's survival skills. Read this to find out what happens when Moon is left all alone with extreme ideas about other people.
THE DAY OF THE PELICAN by Katherine Paterson - (This review is also on the Realistic Fiction page.) 13-year-old Meli and her family, ethnic Albanians, have to flee from the Serbs during the Kosovo War in 1998-1999. Will they lose her brother Mehmet to the fighting? They leave their middle-class life behind and hide out camping in mountains, eventually ending up in a Refugee Camp. Nothing is more important to them than keeping their extended family together and safe, but the war changes everything. Eventually, Meli and her family immigrate to America and face trials there as well. This book gives you a very good idea of what refugees of war face.
GHOST OF SPIRIT BEAR by Ben Mikaelsen - (This review is also on the Realistic Fiction page.) This book continues the story of Cole after he finishes his year of banishment on the island and returns to Minneapolis. He faces many trials in the form of bullies, a bad school, and adults who just don't care. Will he be able to hold it together? Will his friendship with Peter, his victim, continue? What can a student do to change a hopeless situation? You'll find out when you read this book!
TOUCHING SPIRIT BEAR by Ben Mikaelsen - (This review is also on the Realistic Fiction page.) Cole is a teenager with anger problems. He loses control and almost beats a boy to death. Rather than go to prison, they gave him the opportunity to do an American Indian circle justice experience. He is taken to a remote island, given basic provisions and survival training, and must live on his own by himself for several months. He immediately gets into trouble with a huge bear, but he finds courage and strength to tough it out. It is amazing what he learns over the course of this story. I liked this book very much and found it inspirational, but it has come under criticism from some native Americans as being an inaccurate depiction of their traditions. See Debbie Reese's blog for more criticism information at http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/.
PEAK is a book about a boy named peak. I think you would like this book if you like adventure and high suspense. Peak climbs a skyscraper and his face gets stuck to it. When his trying to rip his face off it, he is caught. Then he is sent to court. But his dad vouches for him, and he is sent to the Himalayas. When he is there his dad tells him that he gets to climb Mt. Everest! He meets Shaolin monks named Zopa and Sun-jo. When he gets to Base Camp he meets a reporter named Holly. When Peak gets to Camp Two he gets really sick and has to come back down. And then after he recovers from the sickness, Sun-jo gets it. As Sun-jo is recovering Holly says that Sun-jo is Zopa’s grandson. And that makes Peak feel really mad and betrayed. Peak also learns that Sun-jo is only a week older than him and when Peak finally gets within ten feet of the summit. He lets Sun-jo go ahead of him and doesn’t go to the summit himself.
PEAK by Roland Smith - Peak is an awesome book about a boy named Peak. In the book, Peak climbs Mt.Everest in his dad’s company. But before that happens, Peak does something else. At the beginning, Peak plans to climb a skyscraper. When he was climbing the skyscraper his plan goes all wrong, and because of the wrong plan he gets caught and goes to the court. When he was about to go to the jail, his dad, Josh a famous mountain climber, save him just in time. He goes to Kathmandu, where Josh lives, and meet a boy named Sun-Jo and meets Zopa, who is Sun-Jo’s grandpa. They get prepared to climb Mt.Everest and also meet Yash and Yogi, who are very interesting and climb Mt.Everest. I think people who like adventures and realistic fictions books should read it because it is amazingly adventurous, it's about surviving on Mt.Everest and it feels like the thing in the story really happened. But I also think that even if you don’t like adventures, survival fiction and realistic fiction, you should read it too! It’s really fun that anybody can enjoy the book.
PEAK by Roland Smith - Peak is a thrilling book about a boy named Peak who goes to climb Mt.Everest with his dad. It starts out with Peak climbing a skyscraper and when he gets caught his dad Josh (who is a famous mountain climber) has to bail him out by taking him back to where he lives in Kathmandu, (which is in Tibet). There he meets a boy named Sun-jo and a sherpa named Zopa (who is secretly Sun-jo’s grand father). Them and two other sherpas named Yogi and Yash all have a very interesting and intriguing climb up Mt.Everest. If you like suspense, adventure, and a little bit of mystery you will love this book. Even if you don’t I think you should try it.( reviewed by Sam in 5B)